<p>ditto here.</p>
<p>Lost skills these days: cursive, tying shoe laces, hmm… </p>
<p>
I can tie my own shoelaces; it’s just easier to slip shoes on and off :)</p>
<p>Sure, @skieurope, sure. ;)</p>
<p>So proud of you, @skieurope 
My professor joked these days in college there are potty training classes, shoe tying classes, etc.<br>
(Kids come to college so unprepared. Modern parenting is potty train whenever they are ready. Parents sign up classes for them, etc)
Montessori university I suppose. 
</p>
<p>I don’t even know who taught my daughter to tie her shoes… it certainly wasn’t me – she does some convoluted thing making 2 bows and tying them together… not the good ole “rabbit goes around the tree” thing… :D</p>
<p>We should share shoe-tying stories over on the Miscellaneous Ramblings thread.</p>
<p>my mommy ties my laces on Monday morning</p>
<p>Everytime my kids have to send snailmail thank you notes, they still check w me on where to write the addresses</p>
<p>My kids used to do the stupid bunny ears thing to tie their laces. Then I taught them the Ian knot, and daughter just
lifts her foot and ties in about two seconds.
<a href=“The “Ian Knot”, the world's fastest shoelace knot – Professor Shoelace - YouTube”>The “Ian Knot”, the world's fastest shoelace knot – Professor Shoelace - YouTube;
<p>You learn something new everyday. I’m a wrap it around a tree girl. My kids wrap it around the tree, too. The Ian Knot is amazing- I wish someone had taught me that when I was young!</p>
<p>I love the way broken-in Sperry’s look but most of them look great because they are worn without socks. The truth is: They may look great but they stink!! </p>
<p>My DS recently asked me to get him “Sperry socks,” which apparently are all the rage. They don’t show, but solve that particular issue.</p>
<p>One year when we picked up S2 from summer camp, he kicked off his shoes in the car and the stink nearly knocked us unconscious. He said his shoes got wet on a school trip about a month ago, and he left them in a plastic bag.</p>
<p>Don’t know how his camp roommates withstood the smell. </p>
<p>Old habits die hard @Daykidmom ! They’ll never do it!</p>
<p>I’m thinking Sperry socks might make excellent stocking stuffers for Christmas though!! :)</p>
<p>I would have thought that too, PhotographerMom-- but my DS actually came home and asked for them, clearly after other kids were wearing them-- and he’s actually worn them since (but probably won’t in the summer).</p>
<p>I got some shoe/foot powder in Walmart while school drop off shopping. - Odor-eater or Odor-X. I wonder if it’s being used. </p>
<p>I bought these plastic balls (last summer) that were suppose to keep sneakers/shoes fresh without a mess… Seemed like a great idea until I had to reach in and pull one out of my dog’s throat. </p>
<p>Yeah… I didn’t really think that one through. </p>
<p>When I tried to pack the leftover/unused shoe deodorizer balls for school/ college - my kids just stood there and gave me the death glare. Needless to say the unopened packages are sitting in a drawer at home. </p>
<p>But, I’m starting to see a great stocking stuffer theme emerging… So far, I have Sperry socks and re-gifted deodorizer balls. </p>
<p>I think I can have a lot of fun with this… :)</p>
<p>I wonder how many boys would ask for “sperry socks” if they realized they are basically the same thing as the “peds” grandma wore. 
</p>
<p>Now now, London203, you just keep those thoughts to yourself and don’t go putting images into their little heads </p>
<p>But, about those stocking stuffers. I may have to get a bigger stocking for CK, but I’m thinking: deodorant, Clorox wipes, air freshener, breath mints, cologne, hand sanitizer, Sperry socks (peds), deodorizer balls… It’s looking like a theme Christmas. I would actually do this just to see him roll his eyes at me and hear that endearing, “MOM!!!”</p>
<p>Amazing… I managed to buy and pack everything on your list above for the first day of BS.
Hmm. I hope his room and surroundings smell much better than my closet after a day’s stay of a pair of post summer camp merrells.
I did wash those atrocious merrells with oxyclean and tide in the tub and laid them outside in the sun for UV to kill the ecosystem inside.
Socks went directly to the trash. No amount of bleach can whiten out that stuff. </p>